ancient antiques

Jaeri leads us up the stairs, towards where there's supposedly more items similar to the necklace. Whether or not they contain magic is obviously still unknown.

But Cal the magic detector will probably be able to sniff it out or whatever. You know, the same thing he did to the Selene Fountain last night or whatever.

My mind is focusing on that, though. It should - it really should - but I can't get over the comment Jaeri just made before she had us follow her up the stairs.

Chocolate brown eyes? There's no way she was talking about Cal's eyes, right? His are blue - bluer than the night sky and the ocean combined.

I could excuse it for her not being able to see closely due to the dim lighting in this antique store, but we were standing fairly close to each other; she was definitely close enough to figure out his eye colour.

"Most of the things here are, like, super old," Jaeri comments, stealing glances at Cal for some reason. "Like, I know I've only been here for a week and a half, but like the amount of old-timer stuff I've encountered is enough to make me scared of ageing or something."

She giggles when she says that, as if her words are the funniest thing in the world. I just nod my head, more automatically than anything. Cal does the same, but way more lively than I can muster to execute.

"Well, you have to admit, miss Jaeri, that there is beauty in the aged things," he comments, quirking an amused eyebrow. "There's a reason why aged wine tastes fine, don't you think."

"Yeah, well aged things are fine or whatever," she says, still twirling her damn hair. It's really starting to annoy me right now. "But nothing beats the thrill of something new. Like, I buy a new set of clotjwr every month - I could never survive the social suicide of being caught in last month's outfits."

"Oh, is that so?" Cal comments, looking less amused now. He tilts his head to the side, allowing me to see a few glimpses of his irises.

There's no doubt that they are a vibrant shade of blue, bright and dark at the same time. It's funny, now that I think of it, that I never second-guessed the whole mystic vibe of his eyes. I mean, how often do you come across someone whose eyes literally sparkle like the stars?

It makes me wonder why I even questioned whether or not he was an actual genie in the first place - no human I've met ever had eyes like that. It's actually insane.

Suddenly, Cal's gaze snaps over to mine, making me look in front of me in a flash. My eyes are a little wide, but I make it my mission to focus on the back of Jaeri's flawless ponytail instead. I don't even glance at him in my peripheral vision.

The genie doesn't need confirmation that I might have been sort of kind of staring at his eyes.

I only did it because Jaeri said his eyes are brown... No. Other. Reason.

And now that I've seen that his eyes are indeed bluer than blue, I can confirm that Jaeri either mispoke or might be somewhat colourblind. I don't know.

As we continue to ascend the staircase that just doesn't want to end, I feel Cal lean in just a little closer. Jaeri's still tapping on about something regarding new things and old things, but at this point, her voice is faded background noise.

"You know," Cal whispers in my ear, and I can tell that he's being smug about it. As always. "I'd tell you to take a picture for it to last longer, but I have a feeling your lingering gaze adds to the facade of us dating."

I look at him with a glare on my face, but not trusting my mouth to say any words. Mainly because I don't think it'll come out in a whisper, and also because I'm too embarrased to say anything valid. Because I was staring, regardless of the reason. And unfortunately, the he noticed.

Damnit.

"Nice job, babe," Cal says in response to my facial expression, winking to add more salt to the wound.

Which, of course, just intensifies my irritation. "Shut up," I mutter, keeping my gaze fixed ahead as we finally reach the top of the staircase. I pretend not to notice the warmth spreading across my face, and most certainly not the genie who's taking joy from this mortifying moment.

Seriously, it's times like these that I want to rugby tackle him or something. That seems way more of a likely possibility as opposed to getting him back in this necklace soon.

Wish me luck.

"Jaeri," comes a voice to our right, just as she was about to take us to wherever she wanted to take us.

All of us look at the source of the voice, seeing a person wearing a rainbow shirt that is very similar to Jaeri's. His hair is red and combed to accentuate his heart shaped bowl cut. And when I say red, I mean red. As in, tomato sauce red and Valentine's Day red had a baby together.

He's smiling as he approaches our little group, hand extended. "Where are you taking our beloved customers here?" he asks, gesturing towards Cal and I with his extended hand. "All things for sale are downstairs, not up here."

"I'm aware, mr Hyeling," she says, shrugging and pointing a thumb at Cal, "but this gentleman here is super romantic and he wants me show him something in the same calibra as his girlfriend's necklace so that he can outshine her best friend who bought it for her."

"Calibre, Jaeri," Cal corrects her, looking a little perplexed that she could even make a mistake like that.

"What?" she asks, confused.

"You mean to say 'calibre', not 'calibra'," Cal says again.

"Oh, okay," Jaeri says, shrugging. I wonder if she's going to remember that bit of information. "Anyway, I checked the bottom, and there was nothing. So I came up to look, and voila - there's a whole bunch of fancy, ancient looking jewellery up here."

"Oh, I see," the red-haired dude says, dropping his arms and smiling at us. It's a warm smile, and I can immediately tell that he's a people-person from that gesture alone. "Well, allow me to help you guys."

"Oh that's ok, mr Hyeling," Jaeri says with a smile. "I can handle it." Her eyes trail over Cal again for a brief second, and I wish I didn't see that. Seriously, isn't she dating my brother?

It makes me wonder how she is when the two of them are alone.

"But Jaeri," Hyeling says, taking a step closer to us, still smiling. "Whose going to man downstairs if you're up here? You and I both know that you are way better at the cashier than Millie is."

He whispers the last time, leaning in and cupping his mouth his hand. It's clear that he's trying to be obscenely discreet. You know, in a way that makes you think that he's telling only you a secret, but everybody can obviously hear him.

But it seems to work, because Jaeri's face lights up like a Christmas tree when he says that. "Of course, Boss," she says with a cheery smile, turning on her heel and skipping towards the stairs. "Hope you find what you're looking for, mr Romantic." That part is directed at Cal, and she winks before slipping down the stairs.

"Bye, Jaeri," I call after her, kind of offended that she didn't acknowledge my existence.

"Oh, don't mind her," Hyeling says, waving a dismissive hand in the air. "She's very easily distracted."

"I know," I say, shaking my head. "She's my brother's girlfriend."

"So you know her?" Hyeling asks again, friendly smile still very much present.

"A little, I guess," I say shrugging.

"It's a small world after all," Cal interjects, taking a step closer to the two of us. "But now that introductions have been made, I think it's important that we get to those items Jaeri was speaking of."

"Introductions? What introductions," Hyeling says, looking shocked all of a sudden. "I'm sorry for not leading with that, but my name is Choi Hyeling."

"Figured, you know, since Jaeri just said that," Jimin says, and I can't tell if he's snarky or not. I pretend not to notice.

"It's nice to meet you, mr Hyeling," I greet, extending a hand. "You have a very lovely store." Despite the dark lighting and the piles of things that don't really look sorted, I'm actually staring to dig the vibe of this place. It has this vintage type of aesthetic going for it.

"Please, call me Ling," he says, shaking my hand warmly. "Mr Hyeling is too formal, don't you think." He extends his hand for Cal to shake as well, and the latter reluctantly reaches out to shake his. By the grace of the heavens, the two of them don't go jumping because of shocks or flames upon contact.

Which is a good thing, considering Cal's supposed to stay undercover. Major emphasis on supposed to, as he has used his magic so many times this morning - his hair, our clothes, paying for the bill in the restaurant - that it's a miracle we haven't been discovered by witch hunters or something like that.

"That's what Jaeri just called you," Cal says, but he's drowned out by my question.

"So, you're the owner of this place?" I ask, gesturing to the store in general. "You know Ling's Antique Store?"

Normally, I wouldn't be the first to initiate any kind of conversation. I mean, people always end up talking to be first, and I just politely follow. It's a little nervewrecking - having conversations with strangers has always had this kind of effect on me - but given the desperation of the matter and the fact that I'm tired of Jimin's shenanigans, I guess I have no other choice but to rule this conversation hard.

Because we only have about forty minutes until my next class, and I refuse to leave here without either a magical item or at least some information. Also, I don't really mind that much, because this Choi Hyeling guy seems friendly enough.

Finally, things look good in my favour.

"Yeah, sort of," Hyeling says, rubbing at the back of his neck sheepishly. "This store has been in my family for generations. I sort of had to quarrel with my grandmother to change the name of the place when I inherited it."

"If it's anything like my quarrels with my mom about dyeing my hair, then I commend you for surviving that battle," I answer, offering semi-awkward jazz hands. I internally cringe, because I've been doing so well in this conversation up until now.

See, this is why I only have a few friends.

"Then that makes us both survivors," Hyeling replies, however, laughing as well. He's even clutching his stomach to contain his chuckles, and a part of me is impressed that my awkwardness don't weird him out or anything. Yet, anyway. "Two peas in a pod."

"Lovely, you guys are twins," Cal replies, definitely snarky now. "Could we get a move-on and see the items that Jaeri was speaking of, please?" I glance at him from the corner of my eye, lifting an eyebrow quizzically. Talk about a mood change, huh?

He was literally almost flirting with Jaeri three seconds ago, and now he can't stand Hyeling?

Geez...

But then again, last night he made my voice disappear when I wanted to scream and now we're essentially shopping together. Perhaps changing moods is his thing, along with the whole 'can't grant your wish, Kiama' thing.

"Oh, sure thing," Hyeling says, wiping a tear from his eye. "This way."

And with that, the two of us follow Hyeling into what looks like a storage room. When the door opens, there's a little bit of dust that dances in the stray rays of sunlight that streams in from the half taped windows right above the door.

The small room, steeped in the rich scent of aged wood and the faint musk of time, unfolds before us like a forgotten chapter of history cramped in between three to four shelves. Old worn trunks stand stacked against the wall, while shelves decked with dusty, yellow-paged books.

It really looks like the image of a bygone era magically appeared here, and remained stuck in the confines of these walls. I'm both in shock and in awe.

"I believe the things Jaeri talked about is right at the back," Hyeling says, joyfully showing the way and allowing the two of us to enter first.

I step over a few stray items scattered on the floor, not wanting to cause any damage. You never know about a store's 'you-break-you-policy' until it's too late, you know.

Cal is right behind me, close enough for me to feel his breath neat my neck, but not close enough to touch me. Which is good, considering the whole waist thing he pulled when we were downstairs.

If only his skin set ablaze when he touched my shirt's fabric - wouldn't that send him a message.

Eventually, we find ourselves in front a small, white painted table. The paint is practically peeling off, but that's not the point.

"Is this it?" I ask no one in particular, because either Hyeling is going to answer, or Cal is going detect the magic in some of these items like he did for the fountain. Right?

"Maybe..." Cal mutters under his breath, pinking one of the items up and inspecting it with a closer eye. His expression is suddenly stern, like looking at the brooch in his hand is the only thing that matters in the world.

His insanely blue eyes stay transfixed on the broach he decided to pick up. The piece of jewellery in question is delicate silver, its surface adorned with intricate filigree patterns. The centerpiece holds a moonstone. A black moonstone.

I find myself just as transfixed by the item as Cal is for a moment, wondering where this could have possibly come from. If I'm not mistaken, a black moonstone is one of the rarest of its kind.

Surely this has magical properties to it, right?

"Ah, I see you've found the Karfítsa Zeneddys," Hyeling says suddenly, naming me snap out of my reverie. He's standing a little behind Cal and I, as there isn't really space for him to join beside us. "Which sounds really fancy, but it's just Greek for 'Brooch of Zeneddys'."

I sense Cal go a bit stiff beside me, like the name of the item caused some sort of negative reaction. I steal glance at him, but his own gaze is still focused on the item in question.

"Brooch of Zeneddys?" I ask, frowning a bit. "Did this belong to somebody?"

"Yeah, apparently," Hyeling says, tapping his chin in thought. "All the items here in this room are said to have come from a time before even the 1600's. Most of them have bizarre story attached to them, one more unbelievable than the next." He laughs a little, like that is a bad joke he's heard too many times.

"Wait, everything?" I ask, looking around the room again.

"Yup," he says, nodding his head. "And apparently that brooch belonged to the god of the dark magic. Zeneddys."

***